The Witch Doctor
by Eule-II
Summary: A sequel to the Princess and the Frog, Dr Facilier lives and he's back in business. Set during the great Depression. Reviews are greatly appreciated, I'd like to know if I'm doing alright.
1. Chapter 1

New Orleans Louisiana. Nice place, well as nice as any with the depression, thought Clary Fraser as she tugged the brim of her brown flat cap down over her wild red curls. She took in the paved streets and distinctly French-Creole style of the buildings with the wariness of someone who has traveled a long way and seen far to much in a short time. Well it was something; New Orleans seemed to be an amalgamation of European and American culture with a hint of something exotic in the air. Just a short time a go such a place would have seemed wondrous to her. Now it was frighteningly large and disconcertingly alien. Being a stranger in a strange place was bad enough on its own, but when you were alone and far from home it was a thousand times worse.

Clary sighed and tried to remember how she'd gotten here. A year ago she wouldn't have imagined it, not even when her father had said to her that it was time to look elsewhere for a place to live and work for him. They'd put all their money into a trip to America and now what had she to show for it? She and her father had been separated and now here she was with nothing but a threadbare carpetbag and her father's old clothes. Things hadn't gone right at all.

"Leave Scotland, come ta America and get rich quick. Good one Dad, good one..." she muttered. Taking a turn into a nearby alley.

John Fraser's life had started to go down hill when his wife died of tuberculosis in the small charity ward of a run down hospital. He'd left for the United States less than a month later, using up all of his savings to get them to New York only to find that there was no work. "We don't have enough jobs for our own kind much less foreigners, go away!" had been the message repeated to them over and over again; so they'd moved south. Somewhere along the way her Dad had gotten lost and she'd had to move on without him. Clary was so caught up in her memories that she nearly ran into a tall, slender Negro with a thin mustache and a top hat.

"Watch where your goin' boy!" he snapped at her. He squinted then tipped the brim of her hat up with the end of his cane. "Hang on there, you ain't no boy..." he scrutinized her with oddly violet colored eyes, small and a little on the scrawny side with a pale face and a mess of red hair, not a whole lot to look at but he could sense she was a troubled soul and he had quite a debt to pay to his friends...it had taken him some time to strike another deal with them.

Clary pushed the offending cane away and pulled her cap back in place. "I don't want no trouble from ye, I'm sorry." she said trying to maneuver around him.

The cane came swishing down in front of her, blocking her path. "Why there's no trouble _chère_," he gave her a gap-toothed smile that she could only describe as slimy "It's my fault really, I shoulda payed more attention to where I was going. Now I can tell that your new to this part of town and between you and me that accent of yours is a dead give away that you're a stranger to this fine city. Why don't you let Dr Facilier show you around?" he offered, his deep velvety voice oozing charm.

Clary took in his gaunt features, he didn't really look to be much better off than she was at the moment and she was quite certain that he was up to something. "No thanks, I'll be on my way now," she said.

"Now hang on there, I ain't gonna bite. Maybe there's somethin' I can do for you," he said handing her a card.

"Tarot readings...charms? Ye mean black magic and the like. The dark arts," Clary shoved the card back at him and quickened her pace. _Dinna fool with black magic girlie, no good will come of it._ Her father had warned her about all this, that there was nothing to be had from dabbling in unnatural things.

Facilier rolled his eyes, the superstitious ones were worse than the skeptics. Sensing that he was losing his customer he decided to pull out all the stops...

"Wait a minute darlin' now I ain't gonna hurt you or curse you or nothin'. You sure there ain't somethin' I can do for you...maybe someone I could find?" it was a shot in the dark but this kid screamed "little girl lost".

Clary froze, _No, keep movin' girl there's nothin' here for ye, _her sensible mind said to her. But she thought of her father, she needed to know...didn't she?

"Ye can do that?...Find people that is?" she asked fixing him with uncertain hazel eyes.

"Well yes and no, I can tell you if they're dead or alive and I can tell you if you'll see them again," Facillier grinned, the fish was back on the hook.

Clary frowned, would it really do her much good to know if he was alive if she didn't know where he was? "What's the catch?" she asked.

"Oh not much of a catch, I need an apprentice, someone who'll keep shop for me and run a few errands. Nothin' to difficult and you'll get a place to stay and some food," the truth of the matter was that no one trusted Facilier anymore and business was poorer than ever, but this wide-eyed little girl looked as honest as the day was long, _she_ looked like some one you could trust. He could use someone like her to lure wayward souls to his Eporium and give them to his "Friends". She was just the kind of sucker he was looking for too: alone and broke. It was perfect.

Clary was still hesitant, a perfect stranger was offering her work in exchange for room and board. He seemed almost desperate, maybe she should pass up this opportunity and look for less suspicious work...

Sensing that he was losing her again Facilier stepped in front of her to keep her from going and made a last attempt to wheedle her into taking his offer, "Come on now _ma chère_, I can see you're down on your luck"

He had a point. Clary was basically homeless and she only had a few dollars in her pocket. Enough to buy a single meal, maybe two if she stretched it. She'd been stretching a lot lately; limiting herself to a single meal a day and sometimes going without. She made money running errands and doing odd jobs as they came to her so she had just enough money for travel and a bit of food. Black magic or not, a place to sleep that wasn't a train station or a ware house and the promise of regular meals was very appealing. He'd even offered to tell her if she'd see her father again. It was a most promising offer...

Facilier could see that she was on the verge of saying yes, her desperation was his best bargaining chip and it looked like he was going to win. His shadow was lurking behind her licking it's chops...

"Ye've got a deal. I'll run them errands for ye," Clary said after another moment of thought. She lifted her chin and looked him square in the face. "But I'll not be dealin' with any black magic...ye'll have ta do that yerself."

Facilier held out a dark, long fingered hand, "Alright then, now shake my hand and we've got ourselves a deal!"

Clary clasped his hand and was immediately shocked by how unpleasantly cold it was. The air seemed to pulse around her and out of the corner of her eye she could have sworn she saw a dancing shadow.

"Aw, what's wrong _chère, _You having second thoughts? To late now, this contract is binding..."

The witch doctor's cold laughter filled the air around her and Clary knew that in that instant she had sold her soul to the devil, There was no turning back for her. She could only wonder what was in store...


	2. Chapter 2

Facilier lead his new "assistant" to the Emporium. Clary forced herself not to panic, he hadn't hurt her yet. True he'd put some sort of spell on her to bind her into a contract but he probably wasn't going to kill her. Maybe it wouldn't be to terrible, she's have a place to stay and all she'd have to do was run errands for him. How bad could that be? A bit of shopping here and there, try to draw customers, that wasn't so bad was it? In spite of her attempt to rationalize what was happening she couldn't shake the feeling of dread that was building with each step she took towards her new home...

Facilier tapped his cane against the door frame as a signal that she should go inside. Clary took one shaky step in.

"Don't be worried now _chère_, ain't no body in there," Facilier said putting a hand on her shoulder and pushing her further in.

It was a fairly dark place, the shelves were lined with all sorts of macabre, voodoo paraphernalia that made her shudder to look at them. A grinning skull stared down at her and eerie cloth dolls seemed to follow her movements with their button eyes.

"Come on you, stop lagging and follow me to your room," Facilier growled prodding her with his cane, "I ain't got time for you to stand around gawking."

Clary lifted her carpetbag and did as she was told. Facilier lead her through a door at the far end of the Emporium then up a flight of stairs and through a narrow hallway until they got to a small room at the end with a cot and a single worn down dresser and an old, rusted lantern. It wasn't bad, she'd slept in much worse since she left home and at least it was warm.

"What exactly will ye have me do?" she asked apprehensively.

"Well, first and foremost you'll be doin' all my shopping and you'll be drawin' me some customers," said Facilier "I may have other jobs for you later but for now that's all I need. That don't sound too bad does it?" he added with a wink.

That didn't sound so terrible, but if all he wanted was errands and advertising why would he have put her under some kind of binding contract? And a magical one at that. No matter how Clary tried to rationalize it nothing seemed to add up.

Facilier ignored her silence and tapped the door frame with the head of his cane.

"This room is all yours, I don't care what you do here as long as you don't bring visitors. You're in charge of getting your own dinner and the rest of my house is off-limits to you unless I say so, that all clear?"

Clary gave him a short nod.

"Good, " he said, "Now you get to unpackin' and get some rest, you'll start work tomorrow and believe me you'll need your energy."

With that he was gone, leaving her alone to settle in to her new room. Clary didn't have much to unpack, her possessions were as followed: A tattered, knee length coat, a comb, spare trousers and a shirt, and a tin of odds and ends that she'd collected while traveling. She put all of this in the top drawer of the dresser and undressed for bed. She was a bit grimy from her long trip and she hoped she'd get to bathe in the morning. She sat on the cot, testing its softness. Not as nice as her old bed back home had been, but better than the luggage car of a train or a barn. At least she wasn't homeless anymore and if there was one thing she could be certain of, it was that when you were at the bottom you could only go up.

...

Clary was awakened sooner than she would have liked to be by the sound of Facilier's cane rapping on her door,

"Rise and shine _chère, _it's time for you to earn your keep!"

Clary jumped out of her cot and tugged on her clothes. They were wrinkled and far to large for her small frame, having belonged to her father, but she'd sold off most of her nicer things to pay for travel and food. She was certain her short hair was a mess but didn't bother to comb it before she went outside to see what Facilier wanted.

When the girl stumbled out into the hallway the good Doctor took one look at her and wrinkled his nose,

"Those the only clothes you own?" he drawled.

Clary flushed and nodded. "I sold all me dresses ta make some money."

He looked her over, her hair was sticking up every which way and she was a little grubby, that would never do.

"Before you do anything else I want you to go to the washroom and take a bath, and comb that hair! You're gonna scare off any potential customers lookin' like that. I swear I ain't never seen such a mess on one person's head in all my life," this was a lie, Facilier himself had an unruly rat's nest which he kept well hidden under his hat, but that was beside the point. "When you finish come down to the Emporium and I'll put you to work."

Clary was only to happy to comply, the prospect of a bath almost made up for the fact that she was indefinitely contracted to a witch doctor and Clary began to feel a little hopeful about her situation.

Fifteen minutes later a still wet Clary was downstairs dressed for work. Facilier was not incredibly impressed with her clean appearance. She was still wearing those ill-fitting clothes from before but he could fix that easily.

"Today's job is simple, I want you to try for a job at a restaurant called "Tiana's Place," it's the only place in town that's still busy these days. Now I don't care what job you get, just make sure that the owner Tiana hires you."

Clary was instantly suspicious, why would Facilier want her to get a second job? Surely he didn't expect her to pass on her income to him...further more what did this have to do with black magic? She'd been under the impression that she'd be doing his shopping and picking up customers.

"Why would I do that? That seems a strange request to be makin' fer a warlock."

"Warlock?" Facilier knit his brow and frowned down at her.

"Ye know, a male witch?" Clary had heard stories of evil warlocks quiet often in Scotland and this Dr. Facilier fit the description of one almost perfectly.

"I ain't stupid girl, I know what it means. Let's get one thing straight, I'm _Doctor Facilier_. I go by Conjurer and Shadowman but you will call me sir or Doctor. I don't want none of this warlock business," he could see that this girl was unfamiliar with his particular brand of magic. But she'd catch on soon enough, although he wasn't about to go around with her calling him a "warlock" or a "wizard" it was just undignified...

"Aye sir, if that's what ye want. I'd still like ta know what you're doin' that involves this Tiana's Place," Clary kept her tone even so that he didn't think she was over stepping her boundaries as his servant. She didn't want to risk setting him off, after all he could put a hex on her if he got angry...

"Well for one thing I want you to learn the layout of the restaurant, find out enough about it that you could maybe run on yourself," said Facilier.

"You plannin' on runnin' a restaurant?" Clary asked raising her eyebrows in suspicion.

"Never you mind what I'm doin', just do it! One more thing, you even think about goin' back on our deal... I'll turn ya into a slimy little frog!" Facilier said lifting his cane threateningly.

"Alright! I'll do it! Just please no black magic!"

Facilier tilted his chin up and grinned down at her, "Do what I tell you, and there will be no problems you understand?" he said his demeanor again calm and almost deceptively charming.

"Aye sir," replied Clary, she hesitated for a minute before speaking up, "Sir...when do I get to hear about me dad?"

"After you get that job and work there for a while I'll do a tarot reading for you, if you're meant to see him again it'll be in the cards," Doctor Facilier tipped his hat at her and gave her a gap-toothed grin. His aim was to disarm the girl and it seemed to work, she visibly relaxed. He had good reason to go after Tiana's Place...after Bid Daddy Le Bouf lost most of his fortune The Shadowman lost interest in him. Now the princess of Maldonia was the wealthiest person in New Orleans...and that made her a prime target. He didn't want to fill Clary in on any details just yet...better to wait until she was in to deep to back out. If everything went well she'd be a big asset to him...whether she wanted to be or not!


	3. Chapter 3

Tiana's place was not difficult to find. Clary was immediately intimidated by the site of such a fancy establishment and she wanted to turn around and forget the whole thing. But the thought of facing the Doctor's rage should she fail her task was worse than the embarrassment of being seen in such shabby clothes at a high class restaurant. So she gritted her teeth and walked in.

The sheer grandeur of the place was over whelming. Crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling and every one inside was dressed like royalty. Clary looked down at her ragged shirt and her patched trousers and wanted to disappear...

"May I help you miss?" asked the host as he approached her. He gave her a dazzling smile. He was a good looking man, not very old with darkly tanned skin and wavy black hair. He is accent sounded French but she wasn't sure that was his country of origin. He looked friendly, but she was certain he was putting on an act. After all, would anyone really give a second thought to a dirty ragamuffin? Well not so dirty...she _had_ taken a bath.

"I need to speak to a misses Tiana... If ye please sir" she added taking her cap off and averting her gaze.

"Ah! You are in luck, my wife is not busy so you will wait here and I will go get her for you," the man said sweeping confidently off to a door at the side of the room.

Clary could practically hear what he would say to his wife, the owner of such a grand establishment. _There's a beggar to see you, the thing probably wants a hand out. Send her to the back and give her some leftovers and maybe she'll leave.._.that's what Clary had come to expect from the world. Rich fat cat's looking down their noses at her, tossing her crumbs like she was nothing but a dog. She swallowed a down a lump in her throat. She'd starve before she settled for table scraps thrown out of pity.

The man returned with a beautiful dark woman. Clary was a bit surprised, what with the way the world was she wouldn't have thought a black woman would ever have such wealth. She must have worked very hard..or been born with it, or married into it. Whatever the reason this woman was rich and beautiful and Clary was ragged and worn and she felt a flash of envy for this Tiana.

"Good evening ma'am, I came ta ask ye fer a job," said Clary.

Tiana tilted her head and took in the stranger. She wasn't local that was for sure, but she did look like she was in a rough spot. "Who told you I was hiring?" she asked.

"Well, no one said ye were but, I really need some work. I'll wait tables, or do dishes, or mop floors, what ever you need doin'. I'm no' afraid of hard labor," said Clary.

Tiana's heart went out to the girl, she knew what it was like to be poor but even she hadn't been in a place where she'd looked as bad as this girl did. "How old are you?" she asked.

"I'm nearing eighteen," replied Clary.

Tiana nodded, "I think I can find you something to do, I think we can put you to work scrubbing the kitchens. It won't pay much, but you aren't the only one who came here looking for work, it's hard times and if someone who can do a better job than you shows up; I will have to let you go. You understand?"

"Aye ma'am. I understand, I'll start first thing tomorrow if ye like," said Clary eagerly.

"What's your name kid?"

"Clary Fraser," Clary held out a hand for Tiana to shake.

"I'm Tiana and this is my husband," Tiana gestured to the man from before.

"I am Prince Naveen of Maldonia," he said shaking her hand enthusiastically.

A Prince? Clary froze, royalty...Facilier must have known about that, Clary shook their hands and gave them a polite good bye. He's sent her to meet royalty in these clothes, looking like she'd just crawled out of the gutter. He must have known that they'd take pity on her to, kind generous nobles that they were. She felt ashamed, humiliated even. Facilier had used her because he knew that she looked so pathetic that no one with a heart would refuse her. What right did a miserable urchin have to look at a Prince and Princess? Had they been kind purely out of pity? Did they wash their hands after they touched her? It was almost to much to bear to imagine what they must have thought of her! The more she thought about it the more upset she felt.

She was in tears by the time she returned to the Emporium.

...

Facilier's first thought upon seeing her look so bitterly upset was that she had been turned away. "You don't have the job?" he asked tapping his cane against the side of his leg.

Clary wiped her face, "I got it..." she mumbled.

"Then what you cryin' for?" he asked.

"You didn't tell me Tiana was a Princess! How could you send me up there looking like this? She must have thought so badly of me, I'm an insect compared to her," Clary pulled the brim of her cap down over her eyes.

Facilier hadn't expected this, but it was a welcome twist nonetheless. Envy, pride...all things he could use.

"So what, you hate Tiana? Cause she's rich and she'll look down at you?"

"I don't hate her, I want to _be_ her. I mean, does she even know how it feels to be cold and hungry? Has has ever had a day when she didn't know if she'd freeze to death before dawn the next day? I want that!"

Facilier put the tips of his long fingers together, "I think it's time I did a tarot reading for you..." he said.

...

Author's note:

Hello, I want to thank every one for the reviews, I would also like to warn you that in the future there may be some racism. It's the 1930's and the Jim Crow laws are in effect, it probably won't get ugly until later chapters but I thought I'd go ahead and let you know. I did make this a T rated story but if it gets to violent then I may switch it to M...not sure yet but it's a possibility.

Thank you for reading

~Enos.


	4. Chapter 4

Clary wondered what it was that made the Doctor want to do a reading on her all of a sudden. She knew that she'd get no explanation from him or any apology for sending her out without telling her who she was meeting. He had her follow him to a table where he produced a pack of cards.

"Now pick three, each card you choose will represent the past, present and future," said Facilier holding out the deck for her to pick from.

Clary chose three and handed them back.*

"This first card is called The Tower, it's upright so that means: Disruption. Sudden violent loss. Overthrow of an existing way of life. Major changes. Ruin and disturbance. Dramatic upheaval. change of residence or job sometimes both at once. In other words; nothin' we don't already know about you," he looked over the second card. " The Hermit in reverse: Isolation from others. A negative resistance towards help. Groundless suspicions about the motives of others..." _Hm true enough_, he thought, "Well that one ain't so important _chere _it's this third one that really counts," he turned the third card face up. " Well, looks like things are in your favor. This one is The Star : Fresh hope and renewal. Healing of old wounds. Promise and fulfillment. Seems like you're headin' for a happy ending. You didn't draw any cards that indicate any reunions so I don't see your daddy anywhere in your future, but you're gonna be happy in the end," _and hopefully I will too... _he added mentally.

There was a good chance that good fortune for her meant good fortune for him, he was quite pleased that she had drawn that card...imagine how disappointing it would have been to have her draw death in it's reversed form. On whole this had been a pretty successful reading, nothing really hidden or unclear and hopefully the girl would be pleased with it.

Clary took The Star card from him and examined it, a dark blue background with a shining white star, like the kind she'd been told to wish upon as a child, were the only things on this card. She found it ironic that there would be a star in her future...

"I used ta wish on stars all the time...but I daren't anymore, tis no' but the nonsense of fairytales," she said. "I the last wish I ever made on a star was that me mum would get better. It didn't work."

"Chere, I've done hundreds of readings and I haven't been wrong yet. Reading the cards is a very difficult art and I'm an expert, you just wait and keep working for me and that Star will be more than just a card," said Facilier.

Clary gave him a doubtful look, as distasteful as she found the dark arts she didn't really find these playing cards to be remarkably convincing...

"Well, nuff of that. I need you to go somewhere tonight," said Facilier wrapping his cards up in a purple silk cloth.

"Go where?" asked Clary warily.

"There's a party goin' on tonight at Jeanette Garnier's, last week I did a job for her and she didn't pay me. I want you to go there and persuade her to give me my dues. If she refuses, steal a lock of her hair or a scrap of cloth from her dress and bring it back to me. Do you understand?"

"Aye sir...but, the hair and the cloth, ye ain't gonna curse tha lady are ye?" Clary knit her brow in apprehension.

"Don't question me, just do as I say. Trust me though, she ain't no lady, you'll see that when you go to the party."

"But I have nothing to wear!" protested Clary, "I won't go there looking like a guttersnipe, don't ask me to embarrass meself again like I did earlier!"

"Pipe down!" Facilier tapped her shoulder with his cane, "Come back here in three hours and I'll fix you up, you understand me?"

Clary nodded and walked up to her room. She wondered what it was he had planned for her.

...

Three hours later Clary came down, she had tried to comb her hair into a style of some kind but the curls had a mind of their own and try as she might they had refused all attempts at combing.

"Come over here," said Facilier crooking a long, dark, finger at her.

Clary did as she was bid and without warning he blew a gust of violet powder at her. she coughed and sputtered and when the dust cleared she noticed that she was no longer in her baggy shirt and trousers, but in an elegant, pale, lavender dress.

"Oh my Lord," she breathed.

"Go take a look in the mirror darlin'" said Facilier.

She walked over to the far side of the room and stared into the full length mirror. It was a stylish dress, clinging to her sleekly at the top before flowering into a loose flowing skirt with a knee length slit up the side. Her hair was styled in a wavy bob with a white magnolia blossom adorning the left side. She hardly recognized herself...

"You do clean up nice," said Facilier with an approving nod, "took some work, but you'll do just fine."

Clary blushed, for the first time in a long time she felt..._pretty_.

"Only problem is that it won't last, there's a powerful lot of energy in that spell and there's no way to keep it up, come the stroke of twelve that dress will vanish and you'll be your raggedy little self again,"

"This is just like Cinderella, I guess that makes ye the fairy godmother," Clary wrinkled her nose, fairy godmother was not the first thing she thought of when she looked at Facilier.

"Don't you disrespect me little girl! I'll turn you into a damn bug and squash you!" _fairy godmother indeed_! Secretly he found her reaction amusing. It seemed there was a young girl under all that downtrodden mess after all.

Clary held up her hands in a defensive gesture, "Alright, keep yer knickers on! I'm no' serious."

Facilier frowned and made a shooing gesture, "Now go on git! There's a car out side but that'll disappear too, so I suggest you come home early if you don't wanna walk."

"Ye didn't make it from a pumpkin did ye?"

"_Git_!"

Clary giggled and disappeared around the corner, she knew she probably shouldn't bait him like that but she was to happy to resist. Her problems were far from solved but just for tonight she could pretend they didn't exist. She spun around, loving the way her dress swirled around her legs. She felt like a real girl again now that she was out of those tatty men's clothes and she was going to enjoy every minute...even if she was still working for Facilier.

...

* _**My deviation from the traditional rules of tarot: **__If you know anything about tarot you will note that all the cards I selected from Facilier's deck for my story came solely from The Major Arcana, I did not have her draw anything out of the suits of cups, wands, swords or coins as she would have during a proper tarot reading. In the movie Facilier only has Naveen and Lawrence draw three cards and they aren't even real tarot cards... so I decided that for the sake of consistency with the original story I would throw the usual rules of tarot out the window,... if you don't know or care about tarot readings this foot note is useless and possibly confusing so don't worry about it. _

_P.S...yeah, that star is symbolic of the first movie, I thought it made a nice touch to have her draw that particular card._

_Cheers_

_~Enos_


	5. Chapter 5

_**CAUTION!  
**_

_This segment may be mildly disturbing to some, and from this point on this fic will continue to get darker, I was told that I'm not in the R Zone yet so I'm going to leave this in T for now. (Yeah I had it in M but according to my friend I'm not quite there yet) I will keep trying to leave it at a T rating at least a little longer and maybe not have to move it again.)  
_

_There will be sexual content, although I will try to keep it as tasteful as I can, I'm not writing a smut fic though so any sex that happens is going to be completely relevant.. That means possible rape scenes. There will be no gratuitous porn so don't anticipate it._

_There will be violence, probably very graphic violence, but not until later chapters_

_It is set in the 1930's the word "nigger" will appear a lot more frequently, bear in mind that I'm going for historical accuracy and not sugar coating the racism. I won't make that the point of this fic but it will be rather apparent._

_Facilier may be slightly out of character every now and then, **PLEASE SPEAK UP IF I MAKE THAT MISTAKE**!, I do not own a copy of the Princess and the Frog and have only seen the movie _once_, just once and I'm working purely from memory. I will not crawl through the computer screen and attack you if you point it out that I have gone out of character,_ I really need to know how I'm doing with this_.  
_

_You have been warned_

_With that being said, please enjoy the rest of the story. _

...

Clary stepped into the car, a sinister looking black vehicle if she ever saw one, and turned her attention to the driver. At first she thought that the tall, slim figure in the front seat was Facilier himself, but as she leaned forward she realized that the form was nothing but a silhouette. Her chauffeur was the Doctor's shadow! The dark mass turned so that it's profile was visible to her and gave her an eerie grin, tipping its hat before curling it's long fingers around the steering wheel and starting the car. Clary gulped and pressed herself back against the seat, her previous giddiness about going to the party diminished a little as she watched Facilier's shadow drive the car. She remembered that was on a mission, and that shadow had probably been sent to make sure she did her job.

...

Facilier was in the dark basement of his Emporium. He was holding conference with his "friends"...

"Now I know ya'll are expecting some souls, and I promise that they're on their way. I've got someone working at Tiana's place and as soon as she and her froggy prince are mine I'll have New Orleans under my thumb and you'll get all the souls I owe you," he said to a large and imposing African mask on the wall.

The lights around him flickered and a low growl emitted from the grim effigy that served as a mouth to the other side. Facilier cringed, he'd already messed up one chance and it had taken some heavy bargaining to regain the trust of his "friends" but he'd done it, now it was all riding on the girl. She was the one who could get him what he wanted. He'd need her to carry out his plans. It was important that she be kept ignorant of the facts until it was to late for her to back out. Years ago he might have felt sorry for her, maybe even a little guilty for manipulating an innocent girl into doing his dirty work, but that part of him had died. He'd sold it for power and he knew that it would all pay off in the end. This was his last chance...

...

When Clary arrived at the large mansion she hesitated. She might be dressed up nicely but she knew nothing about etiquette and she was certain that she'd be spotted for what she was when she didn't know which fork to use or how to talk like a lady. She exhaled slowly and walked up to the door. She rang the bell and was shown inside by a young maid, the woman took her to the ballroom where she was instantly greeted by the hostess, Mrs Garnier.

"Welcome, how delightful to see you...do I know you?" she asked.

Mrs Garnier was enormous. Nearly as wide as she was tall and dressed in a bright orange gown adorned with garish jewelry from head to foot and a large yellow feathered hair pin on the side of her head she looked to Clary like a glittering pumpkin with a giant smashed canary on top of it.

"Y-Ye can call me Clary," she managed as she tried not to stare.

Mrs Garnier nodded, her large chins wobbling like gelatin as she bobbed her head up and down. She held out a pudgy white hand for Clary to shake. Clary took the offered hand noticing that every one of her stumpy fingers was adorned with at least one large tacky ring. Her skin had the soft powdery texture of floured bread dough, a far cry from Clary's own slim, lightly calloused, hands.

"Enchanted my dear, why don't you come onto the floor and join us? It's all women, we can have more fun without our husbands," Mrs Garnier gave Clary a sly wink.

Clary had a bad feeling that this little mission of hers wouldn't be as much fun as she'd initially thought. It wasn't long before she found herself witnessing something that she found utterly shocking. Some of the women had gathered into a small circle around a sofa of to the side of the room. Upon the sofa two nude women were entwined, moaning and writhing as they pleasured each other. The women around them encouraged them and at one point a woman left the group of onlookers and joined the two females on the sofa. The rest of the party goers were engaging in similar acts, stroking and kissing each other familiarly, some were acting out fantasies and using props and objects . Clary had heard that the rich could be debauched but this was like nothing she'd imagined.

"If their husbands only knew how much they were really enjoying themselves at my little parties they'd all just die." Mrs Garnier laughed and wrapped a fat arm around Clary's waist, "You could have a go with someone if you want, you look slim and...supple,"

Clary shook her head mutely. She didn't belong here. Disengaging herself from Mrs Garnier she turned to face the woman, "I came here ta do business. I work fer a Doctor Facilier and he sent me to collect some money for a job he did for ye."

"Oh, you're one of that witch doctor's minions are you?" Mrs Garnier's eyes narrowed, "You can tell that nigger that he's not getting a dime from me, his price was outrageous and his kind doesn't deserve handouts from upstanding citizens like myself," she huffed putting her hands on her wide hips and storming off.

Clary slinked off to the powder room to consider her next course of action. Mrs Garnier had flatly refused to pay, now she needed a scrap of clothing or a strand of hair...how was she going to get that? Her thoughts were interrupted when the mirror in front of her showed Dr Facilier's reflection instead of her own. She gasped and put her hand to her mouth in shock.

"What are you doin'?" he said, "You ain't got all night! Hurry up and either get my money or a piece of Mrs Garnier!"

"She won't pay up...what did you do for her?" asked Clary.

"I put a hex on her husband to kill him off, she agreed that I'd get a good five hundred dollars for the job but since she ain't gonna pay with her late husbands money I'll be taking something else," Facilier said darkly.

Clary mulled this over, she couldn't say she particularly liked Mrs Garnier but she didn't want to harm her.

Facilier didn't give her much time to think, "Get your little rump out there and do your job!" he said.

Clary steeled herself and went back into the ballroom. The women had gathered in a semi-circle at the far corner of the room. The maid that had let her in was trembling against the wall.

"Go on lift your skirt! Show us what you've got!" one woman jeered. "Come on then! What are you hidin' under there?" yelled another. The rest of the crowd laughed and made lewd comments, hissing and whispering to each other. _Horrible bunch of hags_, thought Clary, _they think they own the world because they're rich_...

The maid, who looked a bit younger than Clary herself, began to cry. This made the women laugh harder and Mrs Garnier walked up to the young woman and yanked her skirt off. The crowed whistled and cheered.

"Well she ain't much of a woman yet. Not a lot of hair there but I bet she's already been around. Girls like her will do anything for a dollar," remarked one of the two women Clary had seen on the sofa.

Mrs Garnier's round face split into a wide grin making her look distinctly toad like, "Who want's to wager she's no virgin?" she said taking hold of the sobbing girl's arm "Let's let the good doctor's wife Sarah _examine_ her" she suggested motioning for a middle aged woman in a yellow dress to come forward. The crowd let out raucous shouts of encouragement and women began placing bets. Unable to take another minute Clary stepped forward with the intent to stop them. Before she got very far something cold wrapped around her ankle, she looked down. Her shadow was holding her back...no not her shadow, _his_. The thing had attached its self to her and followed her inside. It shook it's head at her as if to say "Don't get involved."

"But I can't just let them-" Clary was suddenly seized by a tall woman in a blue dress. "This one's been hanging back all night! Let's show her how to have fun at one of the respectable Mrs. Garnier's parties!"

"That's right! It's rude of her not to join in!"

"Put her up front!"

"Let's see what kind of woman this one is!"

Clary found herself shoved into the center of the ring, the hands of the women were rough and bruising as the hauled her forward, their sharp fingers digging into her skin. Mrs Garnier's smile broadened. "Ladies this girl is not one of our regulars. She is in fact working for a nigger and she came to me grubbing for money on his behalf. Who wants to bet she's his whore?" she laughed. She reached for Clary's dress but the girl was quicker. Without thinking she snatched the feathered hair pin from Mrs Garnier's head and jabbed her in the eye with the metal prongs. Mrs Garnier screamed and clutched her face as blood ran down her cheek and dripped from her chin. The onlookers were shocked and before they could do anything to Clary Facilier's shadow engulfed her and dragged her back to the car.

...

Dazed, the girl sat in the back seat her hands clasped tightly around the bloody hairpin. The yellow feathers were stained and crumpled. Clary was too shocked to move, her mind couldn't process what she'd just done. When they arrived the Emporium she wasn't even aware that she had stepped out of the car and walked in. She didn't notice Facilier walking towards her and although she was vaguely aware that he was speaking she couldn't hear the words. It wasn't until he tried to pry the hairpin from her tightly clenched fists that she felt her throat tighten and her chest began to heave, signaling that a torrent of sobs was not far off.

When she finally broke down and cried Facilier steadied her with a firm hand on her elbow, "Come on now _chère, _easy does it," he lead her to a seat. He would have loved to know just what had gone down. She looked scared out of her mind and the blood stains on her dress and the hairpin had him curious. When she had calmed down sufficiently to explain what had occurred the doctor could not say that he was shocked. He had hoped that nothing extreme would happen but he'd known about Mrs Garnier's excessive lifestyle and the woman ability to be cruel to others for her own amusement. Those were the things that had made her a valuable customer up until she'd had him curse her husband to death. Then she'd gotten all uppity about associating with him.

"What, if she calls the police? What if they _h-hang _me?...She's rich and powerful and if she wants my head for this she'll get it! No one will believe I was defending myself...I attacked her!" Clary brought her hands up to her face. "What have I done?"

"Calm down there girl, this blood of hers is the best thing you could have gotten me. I promise that Mrs Garnier won't cause trouble for either of us again. Don't worry about the witnesses, no one knows you and they won't want to say where they were or what they were doing," he patted her hair. "The Doctor is gonna make this all go away so don't worry your little head over it anymore."

"But I-"

"Enough_ chère, _I said I'd take care of it, I've got some friends who can clean up 'most any mess."

Clary nodded, but even if he did as he said and "took care of it" she'd never be able to erase this night from her memories. The clock on the far wall chimed midnight and her dress evaporated, leaving her in the state she was in before she had gone to the party except for the lingering blood stains on her hands and smeared across face. Even if he made Mrs Garnier vanish, Dr Facilier's magic couldn't make reality disappear. As the scene replayed it's self in her mind Clary fought to hold her emotions in check.

Seeing that she looked about to weep again Facilier pulled her up from the chair. "Ain't no use to cry for kid, what's done is done. Come on now, let's clean you up." A small part of him did feel a little bad for her, she was just a girl after all.

He led her to the bathroom sat her at the edge of the tub. He grabbed a cloth off of the small shelf on the wall and made it wet so that he could clean her off a bit.

"Don't feel bad now darlin' you did what you had to do, course now you _really_ owe me one for cleanin' up your mess but we'll work all that out later," he said almost pleasantly as he put a hand on her cheek and bathed her face. "You did a good job keepin' hold of that hairpin, things could really be bad for us if you'd lost it."

He wasn't actually displeased with her in the least bit, she'd done her job and that was all that counted. He kept his tone conversational as he talked to her, even so she was to exhausted and upset to be responsive to him.

"You know you've been doin' a real good job for me. Gettin' Tiana to hire you, getting the hairpin...I think you can have a day off tomorrow. Sort of to relax and unwind after your little ordeal. That sound good to you?"

He received a single, slow nod in reply. She was torn, this whole situation was his fault, he'd sent her to that awful place and she was beginning to feel like this job of hers took more from her than she was getting paid to give. Even so she blamed Facilier, he was her only ally in the world now. The closest thing to a friend she had, not that it said much. She wasn't a fool, she knew she was being used. But it would have been nice to have someone on her side, even this witch doctor was better than no one. She'd been alone long enough to be grateful for him now. She felt her chest tighten and her vision blurred...she didn't want to cry...she'd cried so much already and it didn't solve anything, it just made her feel empty and tired.

Still the tears came. Facilier sighed and held her to his shoulder, "Alright _chère, _cry it out now, but you gotta toughen up a little more if your gonna work for me. These jobs ain't easy ones and you can expect more nights like this one."

She clung to him and sobbed and sobbed as though her heart was breaking. Facilier wasn't used to giving comfort of any kind so he simply let her cry on him while he wiped away the last of the blood on her face and arms.

...

After he had cleaned her up and sent her to bed Facilier took the hairpin to his room and plucked away a clump of matted reddish brown feathers. These he attached to a round doll. Soon Mrs Garnier would be on the other side where his friends could devour her soul. He lifted the doll and began to snip away at it with a pair of shears. He didn't want to rush this...first her arms. then her legs, then ever so delicately he trimmed away the cloth of the body. Snick, snick...little pieces fell to the floor at his feet and when the doll was nothing but shreds he heard a pleased rumbling from his friends in the room below his...

...

The next morning a young maid found her mistress's room splattered with blood and scattered bits of excreta, the only remnants of her mistress. Nothing in the room showed any signs of forced entry. She went downstairs and passed the news on to all the other servants. Without telling a soul all of the servants in the house left, one by one without shedding a tear or uttering a single sigh of despair they left and soon the whisper of ghosts and voodoo circulated around the town. Not a single person in New Orleans ever spoke of what happened to Mrs Jeanette Garnier to the police, if they had suspicions they kept them quiet, it did no good to let tongues wag when there was voodoo involved...


	6. Chapter 6

She'd had such terrible dreams, dark dreams full of blood and screaming. Even in her waking moments it seemed that darkness was pressing in on her from all sides. The thick shadows that moved in the night seemed heavier and more malicious than ever before, almost as though they were becoming substantial. Drawn by her tears and despair they crept over her skin, taking any warmth and hope she may have had and rending it from her as she wept into her pillow, the heartbroken sobbing of a lost child.

When dawn broke she crawled out of bed and steeled herself to face whatever was in store for her today. Facilier had given her the day off, but Tiana still expected her to come in and work for her. As terrible as she was feeling she knew Facilier expected her to keep this job. That was just what she planned to do, maybe going to work at that lovely restaurant would take her mind off things a little. Tiana's Place was the only normal thing she had right now. If nothing else, she could focus on work and numb the feelings of dread that filled her.

As Clary crept downstairs she caught sight of the doctor. He was slumped over his table with his deck of tarot cards scattered around him. There were also some shredded scraps of cloth and a pair of shears. She didn't want to know what those had been for. What ever he'd been doing, he'd worn himself out. His hat had come off and it lay on the floor at his feet and for the first time Clary got a look at his hair. A thick, dark brown tangled mess the likes of which she'd never seen.

"And he says I have a rat's nest," she grumbled picking up his hat and setting it in front of him. For a moment she wondered if he'd been reading cards for himself. She almost dismissed the idea, but then she looked more closely. The cards were scattered so haphazardly that it looked as though he'd purposefully swept a hand thought them. _Had _he done a reading for himself and been upset by the results? She had a mind to ask him but decided against it. He probably wouldn't appreciated her curiosity. For an instant she felt sorry for him, he had a lot of swagger when he was awake. But he looked just as weary and exhausted as she felt. Perhaps he was also weighed down by circumstances beyond his control.

She sighed then tidied his deck up a bit and placed the stack beside his hat, an odd chill ran though her as she held the deck in her hand. She had the strangest feeling that the cards didn't like being handled by anyone that wasn't Dr Facilier. In fact, whenever she came down here, into the Emporium she always felt like she was surrounded on all sides by unseen entities that did not like her presence. Perhaps she'd mention it to the good doctor when she got back from work...

...

Clary made it to the restaurant on time and the girl appeared to be fine, but when Tiana looked at her she sense that there was something weighing heavily on Clary had finished her tasks for the day, washing dishes and mopping floors and such, Tiana took her aside.

"Are you feeling alright lately?" she asked furrowing her brow at the younger girl.

"Aye, I'm alright. I'm-I'm just a bit worn out from me second job," replied Clary.

"Where do you work?"

"I run errands fer a man downtown, he gives me room and board but nothing else," Clary said lowering her head, she wasn't about to tell Tiana the truth. not in a million years...

Tiana nodded, she understood all too well how taxing it was to hold down two jobs. However Tiana had been working for her goal, she'd had a clear dream that she'd been working for. It saddened her to think that this girl was working just as hard as she had a mere few years ago, but with nothing more in mind than to survive. It was a reflection of the hard times. Tiana counted herself fortunate, her restaurant has less business these days but they weren't in any kind of danger of closing. Not yet, and hopefully not ever.

"Well, you're doing a fine job for me, so far. If you keep it up you can try waiting tables, you'd get paid a bit more doing that," Tina offered Clary a smile.

"Thank ye, Ma'am, I'll do me best,"

Clary gave her a smile in return, but it seemed empty. There wasn't a trace of hope in it. This wasn't just a case of "being tired". What ever this girl's second job was, it was draining her spirit from the inside. Tiana had half a mind to tell her that whatever she was doing wasn't worth it. She also noticed that Clary didn't seem to be interested in divulging any details about her other job. For a moment she wondered if Clary was doing something that she wouldn't have done under normal circumstances. Had she taken up with someone who sold her out to paying customers for money and in exchange allowed her a place to stay? It wasn't an unusual case these days. But she was jumping to conclusions, she wouldn't judge Clary. Although now she was one of the most respected women in New Orleans, Tiana had never thought to look down on someone who was poor or desperate. Clary worked hard and did her job well, as the girl's employer that was all that should matter to her.

"Well, I'm sure you will, Clary," Tiana touched her shoulder, she was tempted to offer Clary a place to stay. But she knew that it wouldn't be fair to her other employees. There were so many others who were just as badly-some worse-off than this girl. All Tiana could do was try to give her a little encouragement, "Just keep doing your best, and working hard. You'll make something of yourself. I know you will. "

Clary barely registered that Tiana was encouraging her. She was still caught up in the events of last night and she moved like an automation as she gathered her things to go back to Dr Facilier's. It wasn't until she left the resaurant that she felt a light stirring in her chest, Clary had hardly recognized that her employer seemed to believe she could amount to something. "Work hard, I can do tha' " she said to herself. Tiana believed that she could amount to something more. Things still felt so bleak, but perhaps there was just a glimmer of hope for her, perhaps things would get better...perhaps her star wasn't just a card.

...

"Where'd you run off to?" Facilier tapped his cane against the side of his leg impatiently when Clary walked back into the Emporium at around two o'clock in the afternoon.

"I had ta work, I have two jobs remember?" Clary's tone was slightly more waspish than she'd intended but she was in no mood to talk to him.

"Hmph, coulda left a note or somethin','" The Doctor grumbled. He was actually relieved that she'd returned, when he'd woken to find her gone he had been dead certain that she'd run away. He'd contemplated sending out his "friends" to go and rip her apart but he was glad he'd waited. It would have been a waste to destroy her so soon after acquiring her.

"I'll remember next time," Clary sighed as she walked passed him, she didn't want to talk to him, she just didn't.

"You still worried about that woman coming after your head?" Facilier tossed a newspaper at her. The head line read, "JEANETTE GARNIER: MYSTERIOUS AND GRUESOME MURDER" He could hardly contain a smile as Clary's eyes widened. The girl flushed pale and she put the paper down with trembling hands.

"This is yer, doin' ain't it?" she asked shakily, "Ye killed her, with magic, didn't ye?"

Falcilier allowed a slow grin to spread across his thin face, "She had it comin'. But what you so rattled for _chere_? She ain't gonna bother you no more."

"But, why? Was there no other way?" Clary wanted to vomit, the newspaper hadn't given much detail but from the sound of it, the woman had suffered...greatly. She had hated Jeanette Garnier, but she hadn't wished her to die that way. What disgusted her most was the fact that, deep down, a part of her was relieved and even a little pleased that things had resolved this way.

"Well, you did leave quite a mess for me to have to clean up, poking the woman's eye out like that, coulda gotten us in real trouble. You're lucky I've got friends on the other side," he tipped the brim of his hat down a bit and leaned casually against the wall, his strange violet eyes boring into her intently.

"This...this isn't my fault. I couldn't have known what would happen, it was ye-"

"Me cleaning up _your_ mess," interjected Facilier cocking his head at her. He knew this was low, he was a conniving son-of-a-bitch and he was in no way unaware of it. He was going to squeeze this kid for all she was worth. She was worth a lot more if he could manipulate her to do his bidding. If he broke her down enough, she'd do absolutely anything he wanted her too. He hadn't intended on making things this bad for her so early on, but after what had gone down at Garnier's party he'd had a good opening to move forward with his plans for her. Far be it from him to waste an opportunity!

Clary faltered for a moment then hung her head, he was right, she was responsible for this. She'd agreed to do this work for him, she'd also given him the hairpin. Even if she hadn't meant to, she was just as much to blame for this murder as he was. When he walked over and put an arm around her she didn't fight him.

"Now, now, it's not like Mrs Garnier was an innocent person, she done a lot of awful things in her life and the world is better off without her. I wouldn't waste the time to feel sorry for her," he supposed he did feel a _little_ bad. It wasn't like Clary actually deserved any of this. Still, he'd never cared about anyone but himself before so why start now? But he had to at least give the appearance of caring or she'd just get resentful and possibley rebellious. He didn't want that, it would be terribly inconvenient.

"Don't take this so hard, you may have botched things a little, but you still got me what I needed. Mrs Garnier ain't worth the salt in your tears so don't go wastin' em. Hell, we probably done a lot of people a favor, gettin' rid of her for good," he gave her a comforting squeeze. "Go on upstairs and enjoy the rest of your day off," he said patting her head gently in an almost fatherly fashion.

Clary was only to glad for an excuse to get away from him, she practically ran upstairs. When she reached her room she flung herself down on her bed. Why had things turned out this way? What would she do now? She was startled when a cool hand settled on her back. Thinking the Doctor had followed her she rolled over to look at him.

It wasn't Facilier, it was one of his shadows. The silhouette was human in shape and size but it seemed as thought it was only partly there, it looked as if she could pass her hand right through it if she dared. It frightened her, she didn't know why it was here but it gave her a bad feeling. The empty depths of its shape seemed almost to pulse as it faced her. Her heart beat rapidly in her chest and the pulsing of the shadow seemed to increase with it.

"What do ye want from me?"

The specter merely sat beside her with it's hand still on her. It seemed to be studying her, but with it's lack of face she couldn't tell. What was this thing? A spirit? Part of the Doctor? Where had it come from? The hand on her back pushed forward through her flesh and the icy fingers brushed against her heart, Clary let out a blood curling scream.

...

_Hello, I'm back, although for how long in uncertain. I know I haven't posted here in ages but here's a long overdue update for everyone. Sorry to keep you waiting. My but this chapter is depressing, but I so love my melodrama. I'll assume you do to if you're still reading my work at this point ;). Well there will be loads more before I'm done so keep reading and be patient. I still haven't seen the film again, I haven't seen it since it came out in theaters when I went with my friends, but I didn't want to wait any longer to update. Hope things feel accurate. Sorry for any out of characterness. Thank you very much for your patience._

_Love_

_~Enos_


	7. Chapter 7

When Clary screamed Facilier grabbed his cane and went running. He saw the shadow trying to pull the girls soul from her body. Its dark arm sticking through her chest as she shrieked. He waved his long cane at the specter causing it to disperse. Clary fell back on her bed, her face pale and her chest heaving as she gasped for air. The Doctor put and arm under her back to lift her into a sitting positioned. He gave her a quick examination, looking into her eyes to determine if her soul was still intact. She looked terrified, but her hazel eyes were as bright as ever. He rubbed her back briskly.

"C'mon kid take a deep breath and shake it off, you're alright," he said, "It didn't get you." His voice trembled a bit, not so much out of concern for the girl as it was concern for the fact that one of his shadows had acted without orders. If his creature were starting to grow free will that meant one thing, he was losing his power. He had to get fresh souls for his "friends" before he lost control of his puppets and they ran wild all over New Orleans.

"Why would it do tha'? I thought they were your creations," Clary gave him a frightened, questioning look.

"Never you mind!" snapped Facilier.

The Doctor looked nervous about something, Clary didn't find that reassuring. If he wasn't controlling his shadows then who was? He'd mentioned having "friends on the other side". Could it be that he'd made a pact with dark forces and he wasn't holding up his end of the bargain? She was afraid to ask him. From the moment she'd shaken his hand she'd known that she'd been tricked into a terrible and binding contract. But she no longer knew what any of it meant. Who where these "friends" and what was going on in his Emporium?

There was a time when she would have chosen to stay ignorant to all of the madness going on around her. She would have thought that it would keep her innocent and that would keep her safe from the dark. In reality it just meant that she hadn't seen an attack coming. That thing had come after her and the only ally she had was Facilier, and she _knew_ he couldn't be trusted. If she didn't know what was going on she wouldn't be able to defend herself should something else happen. She resolved right then to learn about the dark arts, voodoo as the locals called it.

"Will it be back?" she asked.

"No, I'll make you a charm to keep em offa you in case any of the others get ideas. You just keep doin' your job and leave all this mess to me," he replied.

His words should have inspired comfort, but there was something in his tone that was vaguely threatening. The was the undertone of a warning; she was to keep out of his personal business and mind her work, or else. Clary nodded her head, but in the back of her mind she was already considering a trip downstairs to investigate all of his books and belongings. She'd wait until he went out… then she'd find out what she could about these shadows.

"Now you rest up, I don't think you'll be bothered again tonight and I'll come back with the charm as soon as I'm done with it," said Facilier.

Clary may not have been overly fond of her employer but at that moment she didn't want him to leave her alone. Even so he had assured her that there would be no more shadow creatures she didn't think she could sleep in her room tonight. Her apprehension must have showed on her face because Facilier patted her head.

"No need to be so scared, ain't nothing I can't handle," or so he hoped, at best he could buy himself more time before his latest contract ended. He needed a lot of souls. His plan had initially been to take over Tiana's Place and get rich off of her money, after all money was power down here in New Orleans, but it seemed he had more pressing issues to deal with than his own poverty. The princess and her husband would have to wait. He knew that Clary was just innocent and trustworthy enough that she could get close to the royal couple. Through the girl he'd be able to manipulate them eventually. But before he moved any further with that he'd have to satisfy his friends. That could prove difficult, he'd have to think of a plan.

Clary just frowned at him, she was suspicious. He supposed that was to be expected, his apprentice was not stupid. Uneducated and a bit superstitious but not by any means an idiot. She knew something was up and she wasn't going to take his word for it that everything was fine and dandy.

"Look here girl, there ain't nothing you can do about this. I said I'll handle it and that's what I'm gonna do. You can sit there and make that face at me all night but it ain't gonna do you no good. This is all out of your control so there's nothing for you to do but take my word on it," he said wagging a long dark finger at her.

The girl gave him a disheartened sigh, he could tell that she wasn't going to argue but dammed if she didn't look depressed. Facilier considered trying to cheer her up a little, he didn't really like to see her unhappy, Facilier had always had a soft spot for women, he always tried to treat them well when he wasn't using them. He attributed this to some little drop of decency that was left over from his upbringing. Of course that wasn't going to stop him from using her up to get what he wanted. But why should she be miserable in the mean time? He decided that the least he could do was make her feel safe here, well, until he sacrificed her in a ritual or something anyway.

"If it will make you feel better, you can come down to the Emporium with me while I make that charm," he said drumming his fingers against the top of his cane. She seemed to get a little relief from that statement. Her body relaxed ever so slightly and she seemed somewhat cheered.

"Well come on then, honestly kid, you'd better grow a backbone if you're gonna stay with me," he shook his head and waved a hand in the direction of the door.

…

Clary followed him to the Emporium, even so she was with Facilier she couldn't help but feel frightened by each and every shadow that moved across the floor or along the wall as they traversed the rickety old staircase that lead to the downstairs section of the building.

As they reached the bottom and passed a row of shelves bearing ominous African masks Clary moved closer to the doctor. Those masks seemed to be watching her, leering hungrily as she walked past.

"Don't worry about them _Cher _they won't hurt you," said Facilier using his cane to point at a small cluttered work table, "Go over there, it's a simple charm and it won't be hard to make."

He pulled out a single candle and cleared a space on the table, he then pulled out a small leather pouch and began to recite incantations over it. Clary was a little unnerved by the black magic being preformed before her but a small part of her couldn't help but be fascinated. She watched him take a small etched stone and place it in the bag, he then rummaged around until he found two engraved pieces of wood, one purple and one green and placed them in the pouch. He closed the pouch and took a little rag doll, no more than four inches long, from his shelf.

"I'll need a button from your shirt and a lock of your hair," he said. He grabbed his shears then reached over and snipped a single red ringlet from her head and waited for her to give him the button.

Clary pulled a button from the cuff of her sleeve, not like the shirt was more than a rag at this point anyway. Having been worn first by her father and then by her as they'd trekked across the continent. She handed him the button and he frowned,

"This ain't your shirt is it? I can tell by the feel of this that it belongs to somebody else," Facilier said rubbing the button between his thumb and forefinger.

Possessions had a way of retaining signature aura's this one felt hard, bitter, and angry, who ever had owned this shirt had been mad at the world. It was the button of a strong man with a fiery temper, not a meek little girl. Clary's own aura was diminished and tired, but not hard or angry, not yet anyway. There was still a little hopeful pulse coming from the lock of her hair in his hand.

"It's me Dad's, I sold off all me dresses and started wearin' his things after we got separated," explained Clary, she didn't ask how he knew, she wasn't really surprised by his abilities any more.

"It won't do, go get me somethin' of yours," said Facilier.

Clary rushed upstairs and went to her drawer for her box of trinkets. She sorted through her things before she pulled out an old ring, this would do. It was a little tarnished silver band with a small pearl in the center. A present from her mother, before she had died.

When she came back handed him the ring Facilier opened the back of the doll and put it inside; he'd already attached the hair to it's head. He sewed the doll onto the front of the pouch.

"Keep this gris-gris 'round your neck or attached to your belt. When you sleep keep it near by, the spirits won't harm you as long as you have it," he explained.

Clary nodded, when she took the leather pouch in her hand she felt instantly calmed, dark magic or not. Shadows seemed much less menacing when she held it. She gave him a soft "thank you".

"Don't mention it. It's not like I want you hurt or nothin'," In a round about way that was true, he would _prefer_ not to let her come to harm if it could be helped, but he wasn't about to go making any sacrifices for her sake. She was by no means indispensable, but finding another apprentice would be far to much trouble this late in the game.

Clary gave him a weak smile, she didn't know what else to do. After an uncomfortable moment of silence she gave him a short nod, "Well, goodnight Doctor," she said.

"Just go already," he waved a dismissive hand at her, silly little kid...he wondered if she'd be so grateful tomorrow when he sent her on her next errand.

Clary clutched the gris-gris tightly and ran up the stairs to her room with a final, "Thank you, Doctor!"

Facilier watched her go, she would be safe enough with that. Tomorrow he was going to send her out into the swamp to get some ingredients. While she was away he'd work out this whole mess with his friends. He didn't want her there to wittiness any of the goings on 'round these parts. The girl didn't need to know things were as bad as they were. Hopefully things wouldn't get out of hand before he got them under control.

...

_Author note,_

_A gris-gris in the sense that it is used here is not to my knowledge a voodoo charm. It is a Haitian hoodoo charm to ward off evil. But in the song "Friends on the other side" Facilier said he used Hoodoo so it shouldn't be a problem. My knowledge on the subject of Louisiana voodoo is not very extensive so I've taken some "artistic license" and changed some of the details to suit the story better, sorry. _

_~Enos_


	8. Chapter 8

Clary was up with the sun the next day and she barely had time to scarf down some overdone eggs and stale bread before she was being hustled out the door with a map of the bayou, a sack of supplies and a book of ingredients to find.

"This should take you several hours, don't rush and make sure every thing you get is fresh. Watch out for gators now!" and then the doctor had closed the door on her before she could ask questions.

"Well bugger me, he's in a right fluster ain't he?" she said scratching her head under her cap.

Facilier waited for her to turn the corner at the end of the street before he began speaking to his friends. The ominous looking African masks that served as vessels through which they communicated rattled as the spirits woke.

"Now y'all said I had until the end of this year to come up with the souls, it's only September so why are my powers failing?"

The masks upon the walls glowed and hissed at him. Facilier's eyes widened, he hadn't made any sacrifices to the dark powers in many years. How could he have forgotten? In addition to the souls he was to collect for the spirits to feed upon he was required to make a ritual sacrifice every twenty five years to replenish his power through the life energy of his victim. He removed his hat and peered into the mirror, his hair was starting to turn grey in places. Without a victim to feed off of, the shadows had begun to drain away his energy.

He needed someone fresh and young to drain. His first thought was of Clary, that would be quite easy. He wouldn't need to go out and lure someone else into a secluded alley. But after a moments contemplation he rejected the plan, Clary worked hard, good help like that was almost impossible to find these days. While the girl was out he'd go and find a victim. He grabbed his hat and cane and went out to hunt down some poor unfortunate soul.

...

Clary followed the instructions on the map and soon found herself climbing over twisting cypress roots as she combed her way through the swamp. The Scottish girl had seen marshes and bogs aplenty in her childhood, but nothing as dark and ominous as this swamp. The trees blocked out much of the light, making it nearly impossible to keep track of the sun, from time to time she thought she saw eerie lights playing across the surface of the bayou. It was alien and unfamiliar to her; she found her self wishing she could go back. With a sigh she squared her narrow shoulders and trudged onward, she had a job to do and there was no turning back.

She found most of the ingredients without a hitch, all he had written down, for the most part, were the names of a few odd plants. It was the last few lines that confused her...

"Capture three of the ghost lights in black bottle I've put in your sack, the lights should be easier to spot at night. Just get close to one and open the bottle, then close it again until you capture the next light.

What ever you do DON'T drink from the black bottle."

Clary rummaged around in the sack until she found said bottle. It was black alright, not a glossy black but rather a dull black as though some one had coated it in coal dust. When she shook it she heard the dull splash of a thick liquid. Curiously she opened it and instantly recoiled as a sickly sweet stink pervaded her nostrils. She replaced the cork and turned her head to gag, whatever that was she didn't want to know...and she most certainly didn't have any desire to drink it!

She climbed up a nearby tree and sat on the branch, hoping to spot the lights. It wasn't long until nightfall and after almost an hour of waiting she was forced to light her lantern. Finally a strange glowing orb appeared on the surface of the water a little ways from her tree. She frowned, was she expected to swim for it?

With a sigh she dropped down, grimacing as the muddy swamp water soaked through her clothes. She was in up to her waist and she hoped it didn't get much deeper than that. As she neared the orb she uncorked her bottle, she was amazed at her own fearlessness. This thing she was capturing was essentially a ghost, yet she wasn't afraid. Perhaps she had just seen to much to worry about glowing orgs.

The orb drifted to her bottle and with a flash it was sucked in. The bottle, to her surprise, got lighter instead of heavier. While she marveled at this the water around her began to ripple a little bit and when she turned she found herself staring into face of a large alligator.

Clary shrieked and lurched back, falling backward into the water. There was a sharp pain in her left leg as the alligator grabbed hold. Clary was pulled under and she found herself being dragged and twisted as the alligator began to roll around under water. The cold liquid filled her nose and mouth and although she thrashed she no longer knew which way was up or down. She grasped at rocks and the roots of cypress trees in an attempt to gain some form of leverage but she succeeded only in tearing the skin of her hands. This was it, she'd never escape...she was going to die here in the black waters of the swamp and her resting place would be the belly of this monstrous reptile.

...

Facilier was walking around town when he felt a burning sensation at his hip. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a voodoo doll he had made of his apprentice. There was a large chunk missing out of its leg and he could feel the life draining from it. The kid must have gotten herself into trouble. Quickly he ran into a secluded alley and pulled out a yellow candle.

Lighting the candle he closed his eyes and breathed in the smoke. He saw Clary thrashing under the water in the clutches of a large alligator. Around her a cloud of red spread. There was no time to waste Lifting his hand palm up he began to chant, summoning the lost souls in the swamp to Clary's aid.

...

Under the water Clary had ceased her struggling, she could no longer feel the pain in her leg and she couldn't see any light that might tell her where the surface was. She had no air in her lungs and a strange sense of calm had settled over her. Without any hope of survival she surrendered herself to her fate, but just before she shut her eyes she thought she felt something cold brush past her.

...

Mama Odie felt them before she heard them. The Shadowman's minions were nearby. With a grunt she heaved herself out of her chair and went to investigate. Although she was blind she needed no aid, her other senses were sharper than ever. From the smell of things, the shadowman's henchmen had just crawled out of the swamp and when she strained her ears she could hear something being dragged along the ground. Lifting her magic gourd she fired beams of light at the shadow creatures and went to inspect what they'd been dragging.

Mama Odie's dark, wrinkled hand was met with a face and clumps of wet hair. Further exploration revealed this stranger to be a girl, she was still breathing, that was a good sign. Mama Odie examined her for injury, at first the girl seemed only to be very wet and half-drowned, but then...

Mama Odie let out a gasp as her hand moved down the girl's left leg...or what remained of it. Below the knee there was little more than a shredded lump of flesh and a sharp bone that protruded. "Oh, you poor little thang, them gators done tore you up," she said. "Well don't you worry now, mama take care of you," she lifted the girl under her arms and dragged her back to her house in the tree.

...

Facilier could feel through the voodoo doll that Clary was no longer in danger, however the leg had come completely off. He'd have to find a victim to leech off of another day. He moved quickly down the street, ignoring the dirty looks he got from passersby and turned into the alley that lead him home.

She might be safe from the gator right now but a girl alone in the swamp with a missing leg was as good as dead. What was worrisome was that he'd lost contact with the shadows he had summoned to go after her. He'd have to go and get her himself, hopefully she didn't get eaten or bleed out before he found her. He grabbed a lantern and conjured up one of his "friends". He gave the doll to the shadow apparition.

"Lead me to this kid," he said. He only hoped that it wouldn't turn on him, without a blood sacrifice to keep them content the shadows were getting restless. He just had to gamble and hope he still had enough time.

_Hi, I'm back, I know it's been awhile, but here's a short chapter for you. I haven't been in much of a writing mood as of late, I've been busy with school and all that but I'm back for now and I will try to update more frequently._

_~Enos_


	9. Chapter 9

Clary woke in a soft bed to the feeling of warm, dry hands gently tending to the various cuts and bruises on her body.

"You awake then?" an old woman's voice drifted to her ears.

She opened her eyes, the tiniest, most wrinkled little old Negro lady she'd ever seen was sitting on a chair right next to her.

"Now dearie, don't be to shocked, I done the best I could with it but once it's been ripped off like that there's no getting it back," said the old woman.

A cold feeling of dread washed over Clary, _ripped off_? all of a sudden her encounter with the alligator came to her mind. With shaking hands she gripped the wool blanket that covered her legs and pulled it back.

A stump, that was all, that was all there was. Her leg was whole down to her knee and then nothing. No calf, no foot, no toes...just a bloody, bandaged stump. She let out a heaving gasp and covered her face.

The old woman patted her shoulder, "I know dearie, it's going to be hard to live with but you got Mama Odie right here to help you through it. Now you need to eat something, you was half dead when I found them shadow minions dragging you," she said.

Clary leaned back into the pillow with a shaky sigh. How had she gotten to this point? She'd thought she'd hit rock bottom when she'd been homeless and jobless but at least then she'd had all of her limbs! She never should have trusted Facilier! Never!

But was it really his fault? He'd sent her to the swamp but he wouldn't have know that she'd run into the Alligator. What would he do with her now? Would she still be able to work like this?

She was unable to dwell on her thoughts any longer for Mama Odie had returned with a steaming bowl of gumbo.

"Here, get this in you and you'll feel better," the old lady thrust the bowl at Clary, sloshing a little of the liquid over the rim.

"Thanks," Clary took the bowl and half-heartedly spooned a little bit of food into her mouth. In spite of herself she had to admit it was good, a bit spicy but it very tasty. She hadn't realized how cold and hungry she was until she had swallowed down several mouthfuls.

"Woah! Slow down thar young 'un. You act like you ain't had home cookin' in a long time," said Mama Odie.

"I haven't," said Clary, "I been livin' off scraps fer a long time now," she had to admit she did feel a bit better. This old woman was kind and Clary appreciated it. But in the back of her mind she had to wonder, what would Mama Odie want in return?

"I know, you're Clary Fraser. Came all the way from across the sea with yo daddy to find work and a place to call home," Mama Odie smiled at her.

"Aye, that's true but how did ye know?"

"I may be old and blind but I can see mo' than most. I also see that you been dealing with the Shadowman," Mama Odie's wrinkled brow furrowed with concern.

"I work for him, although now I'm not sure that was the best decision of me life," sighed Clary.

"I'll say it wasn't!" cried Mama Odie putting her hands on her hips and shaking her head. "What was in your head trustin' that low down snake?"

Clary was about to make an excuse but it died in her throat. She's been desperate, so she'd thrown caution to the winds and gone with the first man that offered her a place to stay. It had been her own naivety that had lead up to this point.

Hearing nothing but silence from the young girl Mama Odie reached over and patted her hand. "Now you listen to Mama, you ain't a bad girl but you need to git 'way from that Shadowman before he destroys you from the inside out."

"How? I entered some kind of contract with him," said Clary, "I can't just leave as I please. He's likely to come looking for me," she said.

"He'll have ta get by me if'n he thinks he's gonna take you back," said Mama Odie.

"Why would you do that?" asked Clary.

"Cause, child, I'm here to help people like you find what they need," replied the old woman.

Clary toyed with the cuff of her shirt, "I need a home and three square's a day, tha's what I need," she said quietly.

"You can find that if you look hard enough, you don't need to be messin' with no Shadowman to git that," Mama Odie huffed, "You should take a good look around and think, who'd help you if you needed it."

"There isn't anyone, the only person that might help me is my boss, Tiana-" Clary went pale, "Oh sweet Jesus, I didn't tell 'er I'd no' be in fer work today. I'll lose my job at the restaurant!" she struggled to get out of bed, ignoring the pain in her severed leg.

"Woah now! Juju! Come in here and help!" Mama Odie cried rushing over to hold Clary down.

All of a sudden a large green snake coiled itself around the girl and held her tightly in place. Keeping her from moving and further injuring herself. "What the hell?" Clary shouted.

"Hush now!" Mama Odie patted Clary's cheek, "You can't be jumpin' round just yet. You need to get better first and that's just Juju, he won't hurt you."

Clary was too stunned to argue or attempt further struggle so she sagged back in the snakes coils and listened.

"I kin send word to Tiana, she's a good soul and she'll understand. But I'll leave it to you to come clean about the Doctor. She and he have some unpleasant history and you can't keep working for both of them," the old woman sat on the side of the bed and pressed her wrinkled hands together her face growing serious and concerned. "of course, you know it won't be so easy, the Shadowman won't give up without a fight," she said.

"What do I do?" asked Clary,

"I'm afraid I don't know, he's as old as I am and no one got rid of him for good yet," said Mama Odie.

"Wonderful, I suppose just talking to him is out of the question?"

The old woman burst into a fit of laughter. "Oh honey, I don't think nobody's ever even been dumb enough to try that," she howled, slapping her knee with a thin, withered hand.

"Well, I can't run from him, I doubt he'll want a cripple to keep workin, fer him...I've no' got many options," Clary sighed.

"You've got grit, deary, I'll give you that much," said Mama Odie. "If you live to the end of this mess you kin come and work for me, I won't mind if you're a little handicapped."

Even so she knew mama Odie couldn't see it Clary gave her a wry smile. A blind old woman and a lame girl...between the two of them she supposed that was about equal to one whole person. She knew that the whole situation should have been more upsetting to her than it was but she couldn't seem to muster the energy for any more despair. Maybe it was Mama Odie's presences, Clary couldn't remember the last time she'd felt so secure. Like someone she could trust was taking care of her. She would worry about Dr. Facilier when the time came, until then she would rest, she was long overdue for a little peace.

...

Dr. Facilier set about searching the swamp for his lost assistant. He'd had to dispose of his shadow, the creature had turned on him halfway to the bayou and he feared he was too much out of power to summon up another. He had called on one of his few human contacts to provide him with a boat. He needed Clary now more than ever, without the use of his magic he would start to wither and age rapidly until he became dust, and then nothing would bring him back. Time was growing short and his tethers to this world were severing one by one, as long as his contract with Clary was active he could remain in this world in some form. It was imperative that the girl didn't die by anyone's hand but his own. Part of his obligation to the contract he'd made was that h'ed be the one to provide her with a home where she could be relatively safe. If that was broken the contract would be void and if he had no active contracts then there would be nothing to hold the "friends" to _their_ side of the bargain.

He cursed himself as he rowed through the swamp, he'd gotten sloppy and lost track of time. He'd forgotten to make the offering to dark powers and so he'd lost control of his shadows. He'd been so wrapped up in trying to recover from his losses after he'd returned from the Shadow world that he hadn't bound any souls to contracts. Clary would soon be his last lifeline and if she was alone in the swamp with a missing leg then he had less than a day to find her.

He unleashed a string of obscenities as he watched one of his hands break out in liver spots, either the girl was dying or her alliance was moving to someone else. "If you break that contract then I'll kill you," he hissed through gritted teeth. Under regular circumstances her breaking her side of the contract would be a benefit as her soul would go right to his friends and he'd get an extension on his time limit. Unfortunately there was a small loophole that played to her advantage. She'd been injured under _his_ care, technically that mean that he hadn't held up his end of the bargain to look after her well being. He hoped that if she wasn't dying then she wasn't smart enough to figure out that there was now a window through which she could escape...he intended to find her and shut it fast, before it was too late...

...

_Yes I know it's been forever, I'm sorry for the delay. This time I don't have a good reason for being so late, I'm just a procrastinator and I waited so long that I forgot all about my fan fics. Sorry about that. I haven't vanished off the face of the earth in case some of you were wondering what happened, I just forgot about my stories._

_Apologies and much love_

_~ Enos_


End file.
